Cigarette holder



Sept. 19, 1939; .1. LYKOS ET AL 2,173,211

C IGARET'IE HOLDER Filed June 13, 1938 INVENTORS (0 ffl'mm way? Patented Sept. 19, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFECE CIGARETTE HOLDER Applicationlune 13, 1938, Serial No. 213,304

3 Claims.

Our invention relates tocigarette holders, and more particularly to a cigarette holder of the sort that includes a perforate cage for enclosing the cigarette being smoked.

In exemplary way, the invention will be described as it is embodied in the cigarette holder shown in Letters Patent of the United States, No, 2,120,705, granted tons on June 14, 1938. Such holder consists in a tubular stem assembled in axial alignment with a cage. The stem includes at one end a seat adapted to receive and snugly engage the end of a cigarette, and at opposite end is provided with a bit adapted to be held between the teeth of the smoker. The cage forms a continuation of the seat, and provides a perforate housing for the cigarette, so that sparks and ashes are prevented from escaping when the device is in use.

The cage is formed of two perforate semicylindrical shells, lined with fine-mesh'wire screen, and hinged together for relative movement between open and closed positions. Our present invention lies in structural refinements, by virtue of which the cage may be opened more readily. More specifically, we provide in the holder structure a. device that is operable under externally applied pressure for opening the cage, and advantageously such device is additionally serviceable, to dislodge the butt of a smoked cigarette from the seat in the stem.

In the accompanying drawing Fig. I is a view of the cigarette holder .in 'side elevation, with the cage shown in open position, and a cigarette positioned therein. Fig. II is a fragmentary View, showing the holder to larger scale and in axial section, and illustrating the structural organization in which the invention centers.

Referring to the drawing, the cigarette holder consists in a tubular stem 1 assembled in axial alignment with a cage 2. The cage 2 is formed of two semicylindrical shells 3 and 4, including each a liner of fine-mesh wire screen. In this case the stem I is formed of molded Bakelite or the like, the shells 3 and 4 of pressed or molded metal, such as steel or aluminum, and the liners 5 of copper screen, 20 meshes to the inch. The two shells 3 and 4 in assembly meet edge-to-edge in a diametrical plane; they are hinged, as at 6, 6, for angular movement about their meeting edges on one side, while the opposite meeting edges are severally provided with the complementary parts 1, l of a catch or fastener of known sort. The Walls of the shells are perforate; in this case the perforations comprise a succession of diagonal, circumferentially extending slots 8. A cylindrical sleeve 9 is integrally formed with the inner end of the shell 3, and assembly of the cage 2 with the stem l is effected by the snug engagement of the sleeve 9 with a cylindrical portion 10 on the fore end of the stem, as shown in. Fig. II. .5 Within the sleeve portion 9 of the assembled structure a conical seat II is provided, to receive in snug engagement one end of the cigarette (C, Fig. l) to be smoked. In inserting a cigarette, the cage shells 3 and 4 are swung into :10 the open position shown in Fig, I, and, when the cigarette has been properly seated in the holder, the cage shells are closed, forming a screenlined perforate housing over the cigarette. As shown in Fig. I, the cage shell 4 carries integrally 1 at its outer end a hemispherical end wall l2, and thus, when the shell sections 3 and 4 of the cage are closed, the cigarette is entirely enclosed air may readily enter the structure for the combustion of the cigarette, while sparks and ashes are prevented from escaping.

The screen liners 5 are formed in substantially semi-cylindrical sections. The walls of the cage shells 3 and 4 carry a plurality of clips 13 that are adapted to receive and secure the edges of the screen sections, and advantageously such clips lie immediately within or adjacent to the meeting edges of the shells. By means of such clips the screen liners are firmly secured in the shells or cage sections 3 and 4, while being readily .30

removable therefrom for replacement, as in service they become fouled with nicotine.

The seat II for the end of the cigarette to be smoked consists in a funnel-shaped shell I! of metal, whose wall on one side is continued outward from. the seat in a tongue 18 that assists in guiding the end of the cigarette, introduced to the open cage and moved axially inward, to

proper position in the seat. The shell I! is secured at the neck of the funnel in the body portion I!) of the stem.

As above mentioned the invention consists in means for opening the cage and dislodging the stub of a smoked cigarette from the seat II. Such means consist in a trigger 2D, in this case 4 a trigger of lever-like form mounted in a slot 2| in the cylindrical continuation 9 of the shell portion 3. The trigger is pivoted intermediate its opposite ends to the portion 9, and, conveniently, the trigger is formed of sheet metal, with two flaps 22 cut and pressed 90 degrees from the general plane of extent of the trigger body, providing hinge lugs through which a pivot pin 23 is passed and secured at its opposite ends in the wall of the cylindrical portion 9. (Note Fig. I).

The left-hand end of the trigger, as viewed in the drawing, is provided with an extending latch element; this latch element, 24, is ofiset from the end of the trigger body in such manner that, when the cage is closed for service, the latch element lies immediately within and bears against the wall of the cage section 4, as shown in Fig. H. The trigger, accessible in the cylindrical wall 9 of the holder, is movable on its axis 23, under pressure applied by the thumb of the user. That is to say, under pressure applied to the body portion of the trigger on the right-hand side of its axis (Fig. II) the trigger swing clockwise, from full-line to dotted line position. And in the course of such movement the cage section 4 is, by virtue of the engagement of latch element 24 therewith, swung on the hinges 6 (Fig. I) into open position.

In order to facilitate such manipulation of the trigger, we form the body of the trigger on the right-hand side of the axis 23 with an outwardly bulging portion 25. By simply pressing on this bulging portion 25, the trigger is swung in the manner described.

The right-hand end 26 of the trigger, always positioned within the cylindrical wall of. cage portion 9, as shown in full lines in Fig. II, provides an ejector for the butt of the cigarette smoked in the holder. When the trigger is swung clockwise into cage-opening position, the end 26 of the trigger, swinging inward towards the longitudinal axis of the holder, takes purchase on the butt of the cigarette in the seat I l, in the manner illustrated in dotted lines, at B, in Fig. II. After the cage has been opened, the outer tip (24) of the trigger is pressed and the clockwise movement of the trigger continued beyond the position in which it is shown in dotted lines, with the consequence and effect that the inner end 26 of the trigger dislodges and sweeps the cigarette butt from the seat ll. Before a new cigarette is introduced to the holder, the trigger is restored to its normal (full-line) position.

In the appended claims we define the cage of the cigarette holder as a cylindrical cage, formed of two semicylindrical shells or sections, but it is to be understood that the particular form of the cage and the particular form and number of. cage sections embodied in the cage are not matters primarily concerning our present invention. The essence of the invention is in the provision of means for moving one cage section relatively to another, whatever the form of the cage, or whatever the number and shape of the individual cage sections. And it will be understood that within the terms of the appended claims Various modifications of the structure described are permissible.

We claim as our invention:

1. A cigarette holder including a tubular stem, a seat adapted to receive the end of a cigarette, a cylindrical cage extending from the stem for enclosing such cigarette, said cage including two perforate shells hinged for relative movement between open and closed positions, and a trigger; in which the body of the holder includes a slot, said trigger comprising a member arranged in said slot and pivoted to the body of said holder, with the opposite ends of the trigger positioned within the slot, said trigger being movable on the axis of the pivot, under pressure applied externally of the holder and intermediate the ends of the trigger, from one to the other of alternate positions, said trigger including a portion that, when the trigger is moved from one position to the other, engages one of said shells, when the cage is closed, and moves it relatively to the other shell into open position.

2. A cigarette holder including a tubular stem, a seat adapted to receive the end of a cigarette, a cylindrical cage extending from the stem for enclosing such cigarette, said cage including two cage sections assembled for relative movement between open and closed positions, and a trigger; in which the trigger comprises a member pivoted on an axis radially ofiset from, and extending transversely to, the longitudinal axis of the holder, said trigger being accessible to pressure applied externally of the holder and including a portion adapted to engage one of said cage sections and a portion adapted to take purchase on the end of the cigarette in said seat, whereby, when the trigger is swung on its said axis, the trigger-engaged cage section is swung into open position and the end of the cigarette is dislodged from said seat.

3. In a cigarette holder including a tubular stem, a seat adapted to receive the end of a cigarette, a cage extending from the stem and adapted to enclose such cigarette, said cage including two sections assembled for relative movement between open and closed positions, and a trigger; the herein described improvement in which said trigger consists in a member that is mounted ,in the holder for movement between alternate positions, that includes a portion which in such movement engages one of said cage sections, when the cage is closed, and moves such section relatively to the other into open position, and that includes a portion which in such movement is adapted to take purchase upon the end of a cigarette and dislodge it from said seat.

JOHN LYKOS. OLIVER H. BEAUMONT. 

